Snoring Isn't Sexy Member Dentists Initiate Screening Program as Response to the American Academy of Pediatrics' Recommendation to Screen Children for Sleep Apnea

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In the new guidelines, announced in August of 2012, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that children who snore be screened for sleep apnea. In response, Snoring Isn't Sexy, a group of dentists who provide oral appliance therapy for snoring and sleep apnea, has initiated a screening program for children who snore. Recent research has shown that left untreated, sleep apnea in children can lead to behavioral problems, learning difficulties, have an adverse affect on growth and development, and other medical problems.

Snoring Isn't Sexy

While dentists do not usually treat sleep apnea in children, dentists can provide adjunctive therapy to improve jaw size and interrelationship.

New York, NY (PRWEB)September 12, 2012

In the new guidelines, announced in August of 2012, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that children who snore be screened for sleep apnea. In response, Snoring Isn't Sexy, a group of dentists who provide oral appliance therapy for snoring and sleep apnea, has initiated a screening program for children who snore. Recent research has shown that left untreated, sleep apnea in children can lead to behavioral problems, learning difficulties, have an adverse affect on growth and development, and other medical problems.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a condition in which breathing stops multiple times during sleep in response to an obstruction in the airway. In children this obstruction is usually due to enlarged tonsils but also is related to the size of the tongue, size of both the upper and lower jaws and the relation of the jaws to one another. Dentists are in a unique position to evaluate children for OSA because of their knowledge of jaw and tongue size, the relationship of the jaws to one another and their ability to evaluate tooth grinding which is often related to OSA.

If the dentist determines that screening is positive for sleep apnea by history and examination, a referral will be made to the child's pediatrician or, with the pediatrician's approval, directly to the appropriate sleep specialist.

"The members of Snoring Isn't Sexy routinely screen adults for sleep apnea and now are doing the same for kids," said Dr. Laurence Barsh, Founder of Snoring Isn't Sexy. "While dentists do not usually directly treat sleep apnea in children, dentists can provide adjunctive therapy to improve jaw size and interrelationship."

To find out if there is a Snoring Isn't Sexy dentist near you who will screen your child for snoring and sleep apnea and refer him/her to a sleep specialist if necessary, please visit SnoringIsntSexy.com.

Snoring Isn't Sexy, LLC was founded in 2008 by Laurence I. Barsh, DMD, a dentist who has been involved with sleep medicine since 1992 and who now devotes full time to educating the public about dentistry's role and responsibility in the recognition and management of snoring and sleep apnea. Dr. Barsh and the dentists associated with Snoring Isn't Sexy, LLC feel strongly that management of sleep-breathing disorders is a shared responsibility of both the medical and dental professions.